2006 VCE VET Multimedia GA 2: Computer-based examination

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1 2006 VCE VET Multimedia GA 2: Computer-based examination GENERAL COMMENTS Overall, students in 2006 demonstrated a well-developed understanding of the fundamental concept areas Apply principles of visual design and communication to the development of a multimedia product, Create 2D digital animation and Create web pages with multimedia. In relation to Write content and/or copy for the web, the standard of student responses has improved as both teachers and students gain a clearer understanding of the practical implications of the associated concepts. However, a significant proportion of students continued to encounter difficulty with questions pertaining to Develop a multimedia script, and teachers must ensure that they pay explicit attention to these concepts in delivering the Certificate. Responses to Section B, Questions 4 and 5 demonstrated that students either understood the role of object orientated programming and the logic of scripting or they did not, with little in between. Some teachers could devote more time and attention to this skill area so that the disparity between the quality of responses diminishes. Students need to be aware of the connection between good examination technique and high-scoring performances. This includes the need to read questions accurately for meaning and to use time management skills. Students often answered questions in a formulaic manner, so they failed to address the specific issues identified in the question. Students who scored well consistently demonstrated a broad understanding of the underlying concepts while targeting the particular focus of the question. In Section C (Practical Task), students were able to complete most of the elements relating to the web page but, as the animation was slightly more challenging than in previous years, fewer students achieved maximum marks. Students who scored highly demonstrated a facility to complete the animation in two parts frame-by-frame to climb the steps, and a motion tween using a guide for the slide component. Finally, it is important that teachers continue to emphasise the importance of completing and saving work in the required or most appropriate file format. Students should not assume that components of questions saved in inappropriate file formats will be opened and assessed. SPECIFIC INFORMATION Section A Multiple-choice questions The table below indicates the percentage of students who chose each option. The correct answer is indicated by shading. Question % A % B % C % D VCE VET Multimedia GA 2 Exam VICTORIAN CURRICULUM AND ASSESSMENT AUTHORITY

2 Section B Short answer questions Question 1 % Two of the following changes to the interface had to be identified and described: smaller picture for faster loading from the web navigation is in a standard location for the web, making it easier to navigate no background to slow down the loading of the page simpler layout can be easily handled by any computer the fonts in the web version are standard they should be on every computer that views the page. It was not enough to simply list the changes made. The relevance of the change had to be described in sufficient detail in order to earn the marks. Many students failed to describe the relevance of the change identified or did not identify and describe two changes. Question 2a. % Most students correctly identified that the publisher needed to be contacted and permission sought. However, very few students then went on to say that they had to wait until they had actually received permission (in writing) before using the image. Question 2b. % Reasons included: so that the law is not broken to ensure the creator receives appropriate recognition and reward for their creative effort. Question 3 % Students needed to identify the design feature and how it would assist the stated purpose, for example: the information for a location must be quick to find, so I would use a map and allow the user to click on their location I would use a dynamic drop down menu to allow users to navigate quickly through the geographical locations. Question 4a. % Examples of events included: mouseover mouseup mouseclick drag on press. Question 4b. % The conditional used was IF. For example, If the mouse object is placed in the correct area it will stay there. Students who did not gain the marks generally fell into two categories: those who were unclear as to what an event and a conditional were and those who confused the question with OH&S (the content of the related pictures) rather than scripting and so answered the question in terms of posture. VCE VET Multimedia GA 2 Exam Published: 10 July

3 Question 5 Simplified If txtphone = { txtmessage= A phone number must be provided! + txtname; Else { If (txtphone.length < 8) { txtmessage = The phone number must be at least 8 characters else { txtmessage = You may now start ordering ; JavaScript <SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript"> function RecPhone() { // check that the user has inserted a phone number if (document.frmphoneentry.txtphone.value=="") { document.frmphoneentry.txtmessage.value="a phone number must be provided! " + document.frmphoneentry.txtmessage.name; else { if (document.frmphoneentry.txtphone.value.length < 8) { document.frmphoneentry.txtmessage.value="a phone number of at least 8 characters must be provided"; else { document.frmphoneentry.txtmessage.value="you may now start ordering"; </SCRIPT> ActionScript Function RecPhone() { // check that the user has inserted a phone number If(_root.txtPhone = = ) { _root.txtmessage = to place an order a phone number must be provided! + txtname; Else If (_root.txtphone.length<8) { _root.txtmessage = This is not a valid number ; Else { _root.txtmessage = You may now start ordering ; Lingo On RecPhone Set venterdphone = field PhoneEntry --check that user has inserted a phone number If venteredphone = then Alert A phone number must be provided! & field txtname Else If venteredphone.length < 8 then Alert The number must be 8 or more characters Else Alert You may now start ordering End if End if End VCE VET Multimedia GA 2 Exam Published: 10 July

4 Question 5a. % Students had to ensure that the user s name was appended to the message. For this to work correctly, the concatenation had to occur outside the quotation marks (for all three scripting languages). Question 5b. % One mark was awarded for each of the following: the else if comparison and correct position a valid comparison with length a message indicating an invalid phone number or phone number that was not long enough. The majority of students did poorly on Question 5. Some of the more common errors involved students not: introducing their own variable names for name identifying where in the script the second change should occur understanding the nature of the else if and being able to make valid comparisons with the length of the phone number. Question 6a. % The image has been saved as a gif with too few colours or compressed too far. Question 6b. % Save it as a jpeg to preserve the number of colours. Question 7 % is an absolute path to a page. It is used when the page is on a different server. 2. is a relative path to a page on the same server, but two folders up. It is used when the page is on the same server. 3. is a relative path to a page two folders down from the root. It is used when the page is on the same server. Many students experienced difficulty with this question. Although most realised that the question was asking them to identify something to do with relative and absolute links on the web, the majority were unable to correctly identify what actually happened in each link. Question 8 % Animation techniques used included: exaggeration squash and stretch ease in and out. Question 9a. % The type of animation used was either frame by frame or rotoscoping. VCE VET Multimedia GA 2 Exam Published: 10 July

5 Question 9b. % Reasons for use were: because it is best suited to complex animation in which an image changes in each frame to make the animation more realistic due to the complex nature of the content/sketches stylistic reasons a flip book style is required. Question 10 % Two different types of commercial writing are technical and advertising. Technical writing is objective, exact and factual, whereas advertising writing is subjective, entertaining and persuasive. (Other examples or terms were also accepted, such as sales/promotion, educational and newspaper/journalistic.) Most students appeared to confuse writing types and writing techniques. Responses frequently mentioned things such as passive versus active rather than listing different commercial writing types; these students failed to score any of the available marks. Question 11 % Three distinct stages of the writing process include: brainstorming generating a range of possible solutions to the design brief editing correcting errors in the content/copy research reading about the topic. Common errors included simply listing stages rather than describing them, and describing the same stage twice rather than listing another distinct stage. Question 12a. % A timeline: lets you plan when work is due is important so you can schedule your work. Question 12b. % A deadline is necessary: so all work needed in the project can be properly synchronised because if you miss your deadline other stages of production could be delayed. Part a. was well handled; however, a large percentage of students did not identify the consequences of missing a deadline, particularly in relation to its impact on the work within a team. Part C Animation Create the page Step 1 % One mark each was awarded for: naming the page correctly setting the background colour correctly (#CCCC99). VCE VET Multimedia GA 2 Exam Published: 10 July

6 Prepare and include the banner Step 2 % One mark was awarded for the image with the name of the game (could be Snake and Ladders or Snakes and Ladders ). Step 3 % One mark was awarded for including the character in the banner. Step 4 % One mark each was awarded if the slogan: made sense was encouraging was specific to the audience. Step 5 % One mark each was awarded if: the banner was the appropriate size (650 80) the banner was in an appropriate format (gif, png, swf) the text contained within was consistent with the style guides (Helvetica or Arial Bold, #006633). Most students completed the banner but many saved it as a jpeg file. Although they were not given specific instructions, students working at a Certificate III level should be aware of the most appropriate file format for various types of images. Step 6 % One mark was awarded for placing the image in the correct place as indicated in the sketch design. Prepare and include content Step 7 % One mark each was awarded if: the image was included and to the left of the text as shown in the design sketch an appropriate description was given in the alt tag; for example, Children playing snakes and ladders. Step 8 Marks Average % One mark each was awarded for: an introductory paragraph that explained how to play the game complying with the specific length using active voice aiming the paragraph at the appropriate audience including the paragraph according to the design sketch. VCE VET Multimedia GA 2 Exam Published: 10 July

7 This question was often poorly answered. Common mistakes included breaching the four sentence limit, not using the active form and simply for copying the four dot points that were supplied. Step 9 % One mark was awarded for formatting the text consistent with the style guide (Helvetica or Arial and colour #003366). Step 10 % One mark was awarded for correct alignment as per the style guide. Common mistakes included not attempting to address this at all and attempting to use layers rather than a table, resulting in overlapping elements. Animation Step 11 % One mark was awarded if the file was present and named correctly. Step 12 % One mark was awarded if the various body parts were in cast. Step 13 % One mark was awarded if the character had been put together in correct order on stage (the shaded arm and leg needed to be beneath the body layer). This was generally well done, but some students experienced difficulty with the use of layers to place each of the body parts. Students should be able to use layers and name them accordingly. Step 14 Marks Average % One mark each was awarded if: the character was correctly placed at the bottom the character ended at the top of the slide the character climbed (moved in increments) up the ladder the arms moved in relation to the body the legs moved in relation to the body the arms cycled through in a climbing action the legs cycled through in a climbing action the animation was smooth. Many students struggled to construct an appropriate animation. While it was a reasonably complex task, many students did not achieve marks because: the character did not start at the bottom of the ladder the character did not reach the top prior to commencing the jump the character did not move up the ladder in increments the arms and legs did not stay connected correctly. VCE VET Multimedia GA 2 Exam Published: 10 July

8 Step 15 % One mark each was awarded if the character elevated above the slide took off and landed in the correct location at the start of the slide, as per the sample provided. Generally students struggled to complete this part of the animation as instructed. The character frequently failed to elevate sufficiently and/or proceeded to move halfway down the slide before coming back into contact with it. Step 16 % One mark each was awarded if the character: assumed the sliding position as shown in the sample slid down from start to finish followed the curve of the snake. This was another area in which students experienced difficulties. Common mistakes included not rotating the torso and failing to follow the shape of the slide correctly. Step 17 % One mark each was awarded for: the addition of sound (on the timeline) the sound being in the correct place. While most students were able to insert the sound into the file, many had problems synchronising it with the animation. If the animation was looped, the sound frequently continued into the climbing component. Students need to check their animation at the end to ensure that it meets the requirements. Step 18 % One mark each was awarded if the animation: ran correctly in the web page was resized and aligned according to the design sketch. A relatively large number of students did not insert the animation into the web page. Of those who did insert the animation, many did not resize it appropriately. VCE VET Multimedia GA 2 Exam Published: 10 July